RECRUITMENT ACROSS the whole banking and finance sector has been busy throughout this year and all signs point to this trend continuing well into 2007.
The basic reason is the booming Hong Kong economy. It has given people from all walks of life more money to invest, and banks, with their longer opening hours and new financial products, are trying hard to attract it.
This has created the need for additional staff - and not just in the retail banking sector. There has also been significant hiring by commercial, private and investment banks, in many cases for experienced professionals with specialist industry skills.
At the retail level, familiar names such as HSBC, Standard Chartered, Hang Seng and the Bank of East Asia cater for three main categories of client. One is the 'standard customer' with an account balance of up to HK$800,000; the other is a member of the 'affluent middle class' with assets of no more than HK$1million. In either case, dealings usually centre on savings, investment products and loans.
Customers with higher balances are offered priority services. With these, they can directly contact a nominated personal banker and will also benefit from marginally better interest rates and individual attention.
Major retail banks have recently had steady demand for frontline reception and counter staff, as well as for personal bankers. Candidates for the former positions should preferably have between one and three years of experience in sales. For the latter role, they are usually expected to have a minimum of four years of banking experience.